When Walking in Hollywood, Keep Your Pooches Away From Car Tires
We know what many Angelenos consider the most important thing in their lives. In a Hollywood neighborhood, Lou Mack spotted a sign asking that dogs not be allowed to relieve themselves on . . .
. . . the owner’s lawn?
Nope.
” . . . on my tires and rims.”
The sign was on his precious Jeep.
Sorry, kids, I had to do it: I got a call from a Pepperdine University rep who said the school’s president wanted to see a copy of my column about Princeton Review’s college rankings.
And I want to warn Pepperdine’s students that I sent it (I have a weakness for authority), so it might be a good time to start hitting the study halls.
My column quoted the Princeton Review as saying that, out of 331 schools surveyed, only 14 had students with worse study habits than Pepperdine’s.
The view from Pitzer: Speaking of the Princeton Review rankings, Alison Mayersohn of Los Alamitos writes that “my daughter, Rachel, attends Pitzer College in Claremont, which has the dubious distinction of being rated No. 4 in ‘Students ignore God on a regular basis,’ No. 12 in ‘Birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging, clove-smoking vegetarians,’ and No. 20 in ‘Reefer Madness’ (marijuana use). They were also No. 18 in ‘Happy Students.’ ”
Mayersohn, the mom, said she was “pleased to see their academic rankings, No. 12 in ‘professors bring material to life’ and No. 18 in ‘professors make themselves accessible.’ ”
Daughter Mayersohn added, by the way, “Tree-hugging isn’t only a euphemism. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
Questionable market research: Julian Varah-Sikes of West L.A. received a computerized mailing from Playboy that was adorned with a sexy photo of a young lady (see excerpt). Trouble is, Julian doesn’t like girls. He’s 7 years old.
Does Playboy know about this? Visiting Idaho, Ellen and Mike Peterson of San Gabriel saw a sign for what sounded like a scantily clad attraction (see photo).
Curb your disbelief on this one: Danny Mann of West L.A. was going to pull into a spot on Wilcox Avenue in Hollywood when he noticed it was street-cleaning day on that side.
He made a U-turn and parked across the street, where he found a meter with about 30 minutes left. He poured in change for another 20 minutes. In a waiting room, he alerted the other occupants that several cars were parked on the street-cleaning side. When he returned to his car, the meter was just clicking down to zero--and there was a ticket in his windshield.
Stunned, he wondered what his offense was--using someone else’s 28 minutes? Warning drivers parked on the other side? The U-turn?
Then a parking cop walked up to his car. Was he going to get a second ticket?
“Excuse me, sir,” she said, “but I just issued you a ticket in error. There were several cars on this side of the street, and it’s the wrong day and I made a mistake. May I please have the ticket back? I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
I expect to see this miraculous event on a future episode of TV’s “Touched by an Angel.”
miscelLAny: Is it L.A.’s greatest cultural contribution? The Washington Post credits Roger Owens, the behind-the-back peanut tosser at Dodger Stadium, “with inventing vending as an art form.”
Owens was the first vendor to grab the attention of Hollywood, where he’s had numerous TV and movie cameos, as well as four appearances on “The Tonight Show.”
At least there’s some good news coming out of the stadium. The Dodgers themselves have been so erratic this year you’d think they were playing for peanuts.
Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.
